Athena’s Highland Heritage

IN SCOTLAND   Long before the earliest American colonists settled in Virginia and Massachusetts, Scotland (then known as Caledonia or Scotia) could already boast centuries of history and culture. The precursors to athletic events now enjoyed at all modern Scottish Games were being practiced on Scotland's farms at least 1,000 years ago. Some historians believe that today’s athletic competition events originated perhaps more than 1400 years ago as tests of strength and conditioning for Scottish warriors. Tree trunks shaped into long poles (cabers) were tossed by the strongest military men. Large, smooth rocks from river beds were heaved for distance. Weights and bags would be tossed underhand over a bar more than twice as high as the soldier’s head. Over the centuries, competitions featuring these military exercises became common during annual country fairs, and with the addition of dancing, music, food and drink, the modern Highland Games festival was born. These gatherings, held throughout Scotland and spreading around the world, have become a favorite method of passing Scottish culture from generation to generation.

IN UMATILLA COUNTY  During the mid-1800s, thousands of Scottish families emigrated to Canada and America. Hearing stories of the rich farmland available in the Pacific Northwest, many headed west. In the 1880s and 1890s, numerous Scottish families began settling farms in the Northeast Oregon region. So many Scots moved into the area that they organized the Umatilla County Caledonian Society with a goal of preserving and promoting Scottish culture in the region. The first Caledonian Picnic was planned for June 30 - July 1, 1898, but the weekend was basically cancelled by rain. Weather cooperated the following year, and 1899 was recognized as the Athena Caledonian Picnic and Games’ inaugural year.

IN ATHENA   Athena’s high-spirited Scots gathered every summer for 15 years in "The Grove" (site of the Athena City Park, where we still gather), until the local celebration was suspended after the First World War began on July 28, 1914. For six decades Athena’s Caledonian heritage celebration remained in limbo. In the early 1970s, as America’s 200th birthday drew near, Athena resident Don Duncan proposed reviving the Games as part of Athena’s contribution to the region’s Bicentennial festivities. The idea was eagerly received, and since 1976 Athena has celebrated her Scottish heritage with an annual summer festival and Scottish athletic competition (except during the 2020 pandemic lock down).

TODAY   Every July Athena still welcomes hundreds of pro-Scotland enthusiasts from around the Northwest and beyond. Few other Scottish festivals in the Pacific Northwest have such a long-standing history of verifiable Scottish population and culture. Today’s Athena Caledonian Games Association acknowledges and appreciates the dedication of the members of the Umatilla County Caledonian Society of over 120 years ago, whose love for Scotland, their native land, continues to enrich our lives today.

JUDGE GEORGE J. CAMERON — Frequently featured as the keynote speaker of the Athena Caledonian Picnic and Games, the Honorable Judge George J. Cameron captured the hearts of Scots who gathered here. The principal address for the first Umatilla County Caledonian Society Picnic and Games was given by George J. Cameron, attorney, judge and Portland city council member.   

“Cameron spoke in a manner fitting to the occasion, and his speech was full of loyalty, not only to “auld Scotland,” but to the country of their adoption…..and the Scotchmen present were much charmed by Mr. Cameron’s eloquence. It is spoken of as one of the finest public addresses heard in the county.”  (East Oregonian, Friday, June 16, 1899).

Cameron’s enthusiastic support of Athena’s event was a true boon for our rural celebration. The Caledonian Society asked him to recruit Portland-area performers for Athena’s annual Scottish celebration.   In the Umatilla County Caledonian Society’s final accounting of 1910, the significant amount of $91.40 was paid that year for meals and travel from Portland to Athena for out-of-area talent. Judge Cameron obviously had good influence and active Scottish connections in Portland and Western Oregon to persuade performers from the Willamette Valley to make the long journey to Athena, which in those days meant many hours of travel by train. Many popular Scottish societies flourished in Portland and many other places at the “Turn of the Century,” and the numerous Scottish-born business owners and bankers staunchly supported one another.

 A wee bit more about Judge George Cameron:  He was born in Scotland in 1864 and came to Oregon in 1890.   After studying law he was admitted to the bar in 1893. He was a Portland City Council member from 1898 to 1900, became Municipal Judge in Portland from 1900-02 and 1905-1908, and then served as District Attorney of Multnomah County from 1908-1912. An avid fan of “European football,” Cameron promoted soccer in Portland, co-donated the prestigious Cameron Cup soccer award, and even had a soccer team named after him — the “Camerons.” 

Portland’s Mayor Harry Lane (1905-09) opposed vice and corruption in Portland, and that’s when Municipal Judge Cameron made the history books.  When tavern owner Thomas Richards was charged with using his restaurant as a front for a house of ill-repute, the trial was held in Judge Cameron’s court in January 1906.  

The Oregon Journal newspaper called the trial a farce. Subpoenas were stolen and false ones issued in order to embarrass the prosecution. Those actions were referred to as “shenanigans,” and some said Municipal Judge Cameron appeared to sympathize with liquor interests. (Leave it to a Scotsman to go to battle for liquor interests…or another Scotsman.) A hundred years later, some who read accounts of the proceedings branded Cameron a “scoundrel.”

In the colorful past of Oregon, Judge George J. Cameron laid it on the line.  He fought for what he believed, supported his friends, loved his heritage, and apparently gave his all to Portland and Oregon. Athena Caledonian Games is proud to have been associated with him during our earliest years.